Land to be set aside for squatter resettlement

“The regional government has been working on finding land for a new squatter resettlement plan. Myanmar has had squatter problems for years. There used to be illegal houses around Shwe Dagon Pagoda and a lot of people got into trouble because of improper resettlement, so we are now trying to resettle illegal residents systematically,” U Phyo Min Thein told a media conference held on Friday to discuss the regional government’s first year in office.

Under the resettlement plan for illegal residents, the regional government will provide homes for real squatters only and take action against those who apply for homes by cheating, he said.

“We will scrutinise squatters and collect data on them. People can’t just claim to be squatters. They will be thoroughly scrutinised with the help of technology,” he said.

According to current data, there are more than 400,000 squatters in the Yangon Region, U Phyo Min Thein said.

“We expected maybe 300,000 squatters in the region, but there are actually more than 400,000. We will examine the validity of these figures and continue with the resettlement plan,” he said.

The regional government will also work to return confiscated farmland. “But giving back the farmland will take time because it requires a thorough inspection. In some places, more than 1000 farmers have applied for about 400 acres of land,” he said.